French Fancy

Tomorrow I am popping down to where Jezza and the boys play like overgrown kids by driving badly, so that I can once again pretend to know enough to judge wine.

France will provide the candidates, which is nice, but the real attraction for me will be the real judges. A very good and welcoming bunch last year, so I am looking forward to the day.

I also like the pens.

I hope I can avoid looking too foolish and would love to get an invitation, or two, to absolutely anything.

I will let you know.

First Gigs?

I have been asked to run a couple of tastings.

One for a friend and some mutual chums, and one for the University of the Third Age (U3A). All I need to do now is try to work out what I do, and do not, know.

The U3A tasting will be in the autumn,  as one of a series of three covering the wines of Spain. The other is most likely to cover whatever the Wine Society had on offer.

I seem

Why do I still not know anything?

I am having a shaky moment. I just looked at some past papers and, despite all the reading, don't feel any better equipped for this June than I was for the last.

I have 16 weeks (slightly less) left to go and am in danger of planning as efficiently as Beaker from the Muppets.

Meep.

So. I will move from reading to writing. I will only read when I cannot write. There is a strong possibility that I will be reading again before bedtime.

Stay with me. I need the support.

Back to school

Just home from a very enjoyable tasting on seven sparkling wines.

Moving through Martini Asti through Prosecco, rose Cava, through Aussie fizz to Lanson black and Nyetimber.

Finished on red sparkler from Cornwall. Stick to the pasties, boys.

Seven down, One left

So, dear friend, I have reached the home straight.

The closed-book case study on wine tourism rated a merit, and I am keen to see whether it was a good enough merit to provide a distinction for the whole of unit 1. The assignment was very well received and I would like to see that reflected in the final mark.

The spirits retake was just good enough. On the first attempt my tasting let me down. This time I floundered on Guyanan Rum, but was granted a pass, on balance. I am grateful for that.

I am reading fairly widely, but I need more structure if enough of it is to stick and be retrievable in June.

I was very pleased to see some familiar names in the WSET Yearbook; well done all. There were other names missing and I hope that means we may be able to share a celebration at the Guildhall next January.

I have decided to rejoin the school where it all started, if they will have me, as a way of keeping me on my toes. I need all the help I can get, to keep focussed.

I have two dates at the IWSC; one for France, the other Italy, and this will be my third year as an associate judge. Will I ever be good enough to warrant an invitation? Probably not, but let's keep trying.

Bottoms up.

Stick to the plan.

I have invested in the book on distilling that I should have received two years ago, bought the fabulous 'concise world wine atlas' and am rereading the excellent ' understanding wine technology'.

So far, so good.

Real life is still persistently tapping on my shoulder, but I'm determined to keep the balance.

I need to start drinking spirits and, happily, will be passing through duty free on the way to Berlin tomorrow, so some stock can be procured.

Stay with me. I need your support.

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The show goes on

I think we may see a change in style from this point.

A summary. The WSET diploma has six units. Two of the units each have two halves. That makes eight hoops through which the initiate must jump if s/he is to qualify. To date I have negotiated seven hoops. Three passes, two passes with distinction, two fails. I also had a no show, which I regret.

That means I must sit one, and resit two. The sit and one resit will happen on 7th November. These are a closed book case study and the combined tasting and theory exam concerning spirits.

The remaining resit is the still light wines theory paper. And it's the big one.With that in mind I suppressed my inadvisable urge to book in for January 2013 and have sent off the form for June 2013. That gives me around forty weeks, which sounds a lot. However, the November exams need to be passed and they will take some preparation. The closed book case study is based on a topic announced 20 working days before the paper. This leaves the remainder of the period before the exam available for: planning the necessary studies; tasting an inordinate amount of spirits.

My studies started with a Christmas gift in 2010 and, even having taken a six month break from July 2011 to January 2012 and failing to study sufficiently on my return, I could still get from complete novice to diploma graduate in three and a half years. I'd be very happy with that.

I have allowed real life to take my attention too far from my interests and a bit of realignment is about to occur. Real life is important, but without the frivolous, enjoyable and completely pointless, what real value has the effort that goes into providing the ability to pay for them?

I shall keep you posted, both on the progress I make in planning the final assault and also on my attempted execution of the output.